Ziming Li

Here is a link to the interactive learning resource for Pod 10: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_mQqnlnCbmuduVHssL15hrj6qrcCRTfU9hAEIByt_kE/edit?usp=sharing

Hi Pod 10,

Thank you for sharing your group’s interactive learning resource. I was very impressed when I read your resource and I think you did a great job.

First of all, I like the table of contents that you created. Every content and page number are clearly displayed on it, which is logical and organized. When I’m reading, I know which page I want to read directly from the table of contents, which is very convenient.

By reading the overview of your learning resource, I can get a clear idea of what knowledge you want to teach students. I think teaching people how to work effectively in a team is very useful in both school and work life. I really like the concise language and two clear tables you used. They help me better understand what the course materials will be and what skills I will have when I finish the course.

The constructivism approach and the cooperative learning approach that you used are very well suited to your learning content. Establish a topic by imitating a real life example and allow students to learn the content of the course through practice rather than through direct education. In this way, students can learn more deeply, instead of just understanding the definitions of the concepts. It’s also important to keep them on the right track by giving them feedback after each step. I like that you say “one student’s strengths may be another’s weaknesses”. Cooperative learning really helps students find their own positions and learn knowledge better.

For the learning activity that your group designed, I don’t quite understand how the “keep talking and nobody explodes” game works and how this activity will be graded. Perhaps you want to consider writing more specifically, such as writing about whether the game needs to be played by everyone in the group at the same time, which way it’s going to be played, and how it’s going to be graded. In addition, I think the design of other activities, blogs and the group project, are very good. For example, the blog activity allows students to reflect on their group experience by writing blogs and then comment on other group members’ blogs. Through this activity, students can have a deeper understanding of the knowledge they have learned. However, I am wondering how many blogs they need to post during the whole course and how do you grade and give feedback to each student, such as by email? Howethe final project part, perhaps you want to add more details on it, such as what is the topic of the project, and what tasks should the students complete in this project. Moreover, you may want to create more topics in order to match each learning outcome, and write out more clearly about which activities correspond to which topics.

I really enjoy reading your assessment part and the inclusive design part. They are very detailed and specific. For the inclusive design part, your group did a very good job. You have considered the problems that both ‘English language learners (ELL)’ and ‘single parent who is working full-time and has 2 kids in elementary school’ may face while studying this course, and you have written possible solutions and adjustments for that. For example, for English language learners, they can use a translator to translate the learning content, and for single parents, you take into account their time constraints and make flexible deadlines for them. I believe these adjustments will help them learn this course better.

All in all, I really like your interactive learning resource. The content is very clear, and it also gives me some inspiration on how to create a good interactive learning resource. I am looking forward to seeing your final version. Thank you.

Hi Weiran, I couldn’t agree more with your idea. First of all, the inclusion of subtitles and speed controls in the video is very friendly to students with language or hearing impairments. If possible, try to increase the contrast of the video so that color-blind students can learn. Second, it is helpful to add a lot of interactions, such as having students have group discussions after class. The examination after class can also supervise the students to study and exercise their ability. It is also a good way for teachers to open online answers at regular times. This fixed time allows students to arrange their time reasonably, and online answers are more efficient than emails or messages. This will help answer students’ questions and keep them on the right path. Thank you for your post.

Hi Tangxiao, I like and agree with your teaching method very much. First of all, it is feasible to learn camera knowledge without interaction, since everyone may have different camera models, so the best way is to let them write down the important points, and then study and operate them by themselves. After they have learned the knowledge of the camera well, making the theme is an important link. Because what students want to shoot and edit later is determined by the theme. During the theme period, it is very good to open Zoom for students to exchange ideas so that they can be more inspired. For teachers, there are many ways to answer students’ questions such as email, Twitter, and Facebook, which allow students to choose according to their own situation. The final feedback is an important job for the teacher because it is the evaluation of the students’ achievements over a period of time, which may affect the students’ later photography careers. Thank you for your post.

I have seen the teaching method of your group’s interactive learning resource, and I feel that it is very inclusive. You think a lot for your students. For example, your classes are all prepared in advance and posted online, so that it will be friendly to students studying in different countries. And your videos have subtitles, which are convenient for students with hearing difficulties. When you said that you have a break out room activity, I was wondering whether it is possible to change the break out room into a discussion board. This solves the problem of time zones and ensures that every student can participate in the discussion. That might be more efficient. Thank you for you post.

Hi Shanshan, Your solutions for people with color blindness and hearing impairment are very detailed. I couldn’t agree more. For people with hearing impairments, providing subtitles in a video is the most efficient. They can also acquire knowledge in real time. Adding sign language is an interesting idea, but it’s not an easy one to pull off. Because usually we see programs that offer sign language as news. For color blindness, increasing contrast is a good solution. When we make videos or PPT, we can choose a color scheme that is friendly to the color blind as much as possible. This will undoubtedly increase the efficiency of teaching. Thank you for your post.

In our group’s blueprint, we have included a variety of different activities to help students learn the course we have designed, such as group discussions and quizzes. I think group discussion may create barriers for student success. First of all, we can not have face-to-face group discussions at this particular time, then we have to set reasonable times for students to have group discussions online. However, everyone’s time is uncertain, so they may not be able to participate in the group discussion at the same time. In this situation, we can use platforms such as the Brightspace discussion board to allow students to express their views on it, and then comment on other group members’ posts within a specified period of time.

The second potential barrier created by group discussions is that it is difficult to judge whether everyone in the group has mastered the concept that they should understand. For example, there may be someone in the group who does not participate or does not express their ideas in the discussion, and it’s hard for us to know if that student understands the concept that we provided. Therefore, we can firstly create a discussion guide to allow students to follow. For instance, we can ask students some specific questions about the discussion topic and allow students to answer each question on the discussion board. Then we can divide the grade of the group discussion into three parts. The first part is the score of participation in the discussion, and the second part is the determination whether students follow the discussion guide carefully and whether they answer questions completely. The last part is about whether the students have read the post of others carefully and whether they have given appropriate comments to others. Through these adjustments, we will reduce the barriers for students’ success.

I quite agree with you. The purpose of direct instruction is very strong, and the goal is very clear, for example, a math class will teach you the formula directly. Organizing activities and giving feedback after class are important means to engage students in learning. Independent practice allows students to better consolidate their knowledge and expand it. More importantly, they were trained in critical thinking. The final assessment is for the student to take stock and check if they are on the right track. All the steps are clear and very efficient. Thanks for your post.

I quite agree with you. For example, experiential learning can increase the initiative of learners. Because experiential learning focuses on personal feelings, for many people, if they think of themselves as the main object in the learning process, they will be more flexible and more active to learn. I also agree that experiential learning can accumulate experience. Because I think no matter what one does, one should practice by oneself rather than listen to others. Experiencing it will deepen your memory, which will be of great help in dealing with similar things in the future. Thanks for your post.

Characteristics of Direct Instruction:

Direct instruction is an educational approach in which educators directly educate learners face to face, by

breaking up a course material into many components and teaching them step by step.

According to Fisher and Frey’s article, district instruction has the following characteristics.

1. Reduce the difficulty by dividing the task into smaller parts.

First of all, educators should identify the content of the course that they want learners to learn, and then divide the content into several parts to teach learners step by step. This method helps students absorb knowledge more easily and makes complex knowledge easier to understand.

• Use guidance to support students during practice.

Educators should provide students with examples of the content or exercises for students to practice in the process of education. In order to help students better understand the course material. Also, the teachers should develop a set of criteria to identify whether the learner has mastered the course material.

• Provide feedback to students.

As the learner completes each part of the course content, the teacher should provide feedback to the learner. Moreover, when the learner has a problem, the educator should answer them in time.

This approach has been used in the topic we chose. Because the topic that our group chose is to teach learners about public goods. Therefore, we should break the whole content into smaller parts. For example, we will first teach learners the characteristics of public goods, and then the problems that public goods will cause to society. We will also provide some examples of public goods and some practice questions for learners to help learners better understand the concept of public goods. Thus, this approach does align with our chosen topic. However, we also use some other educational approaches in our topic, such as cooperative learning and experiential learning.

Reference: Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2020). Direct Instruction in Early Reading: Direct instruction is key to teaching reading but is often misunderstood. Educational Leadership, 78(3), 76–77.

Describe an example from your life of when you were taught using each method described in this article: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism.

I would like to share my experience of learning to swim when I was a child, that I was taught by using these three methods.

Behaviorism:

When I just started learning to swim, the swimming coach taught me to hold my breath first. When I was able to hold my breath underwater for more than 30 seconds, I began to practice treading water and swimming postures of hands and feet. My coach gave me the right direction every step of the way. If I do something wrong, the coach will correct me in time and tell me what is the right way. This kind of step by step education, and in each step of the teaching feedback is behavioral education.

Cognitivism:

When I’m practicing swimming, I often forget the correct swimming posture, which sometimes causes me to choke or not be able to swim forward. When this happens, my coach no longer repeatedly reminds me of the correct posture but uses cognitivism education to teach me. For example, he first showed me how to swim in the right way, so that I could see more about the correct swimming posture. Then he let me think for myself about how my way is different from his, and why it is different. In the end, I found that the reason why I could not master the swimming form was that I was too afraid of drowning. So the instructor took me to shallower water to practice. When I’m not scared anymore, my posture becomes more standard and I can do it better. Then when I go to deeper water, I can swim very well.

Constructivism:

The method of structural education is not that the educator directly tells the learner what is the right thing to do. The learner will not passively accept the predetermined knowledge. But through some methods, educators let learners independently through their own experience to acquire this knowledge. When I was learning to swim, my teacher didn’t tell me how to swim at the beginning. He first asked me some questions, such as why I should learn to swim and what skills I need to master to learn swimming. After I answered one by one, the coach corrected what I said wrong, and I remembered the necessary skills to learn swimming more firmly. I will never forget how to hold my breath and the swimming posture while swimming. If the teacher had just told me all the theories about swimming, I might not have remembered them so firmly. Instead, through my own way of thinking and exploring, I will have a better grasp of this swimming knowledge.